Hulk is sent in to space by Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Mr. Fantastic, and Black Bolt to prevent being a threat to Earth but instead of crashing on an uninhabited planet, he crashes on the warrior planet of Sakaar. Imprisoned and sentenced to fight in the arena for the Red King, Hulk joins a group called the Warbound to fight. When the Warbound wins their freedom, it makes them the target of the Red King. The people of Sakaar realize Hulk’s blood causes the dead soil to grow and begin to wonder if Hulk could be the legendary Sakaarson destine to lead them to greatness.

Planet Hulk was directed by Sam Liu and adapted Greg Pak’s storyline from Incredible Hulk (3) #92-105 and Giant-Size Hulk #1 in 2006 and 2007. It was released straight to DVD on February 2, 2010.

The story is an abridge version of Planet Hulk and does leave room for a sequel. I wish they had just made two movies that clearly adapted the story since it was one of the better Hulk stories in the past decade. What happens to the Warbound and the planet Sakaar isn’t answered within the story and it could be something that is revisited in a second film (or just moving the story to Earth for World War Hulk).

One of the strange things in this adaptation is the inclusion of Beta Ray Bill. In the original Planet Hulk storyline, Hulk came in conflict with the Silver Surfer in the arena. Due to licensing issues the Silver Surfer couldn’t be included in Planet Hulk. Beta Ray Bill was a really, really strange substitution. Thor appears with Beta Ray Bill in a flashback to Korg’s origin (from Journey Into Mystery (1) #83). Beta Ray Bill is a rather obscure character, and I don’t know why they just didn’t use Thor (on a side note check the audience at the arena for appearances of Adam Warlock, Gamora, Pip the Troll, Star-Lord, Grandmaster, and a Skrull).

Planet Hulk continues Marvel Animation’s better than average cartoon adaptations of popular stories, but none of them feel epic enough to be a feature length film. Hopefully the trend will continue and a new story will be released ever few months or so allowing some less popular characters to see the spotlight.

Follow me on Twitter @JPRoscoe76! Loves all things pop-culture especially if it has a bit of a counter-culture twist. Plays video games (basically from the start when a neighbor brought home an Atari 2600), comic loving (for almost 30 years), and a true critic of movies. Enjoys the art house but also isn't afraid to let in one or two popular movies at the same time.